Girls Soccer: Wayland falls to A-B in season opener

The Warriors, with fresh expectations for this upcoming season, opened against that formidable A-B program and bowed 6-0 to the Colonials.

Special to the Crier

Any time a girls soccer team faces Dual County League Large foe Acton-Boxboro, it’s in for a serious challenge.

The Warriors, with fresh expectations for this upcoming season, opened against that formidable A-B program and bowed 6-0 to the Colonials last Friday.

“Acton-Boxboro plays at a different skill level than we do,” said Wayland coach Guy Enoch. “At the same time, we showed that we compete and compete hard. We didn’t shy away from contact. That is going to be key to doing well against teams in our (DCL Small) division this season.”

A-B dominated from the opening whistle, scoring two goals in the first three minutes of play with crisp passing, players spaced well, and a relentless attack. The Colonials controlled the ball nearly 70 percent of the time in the first half with 20 passing strings that, on average, included six-player touches.

Wayland’s competitiveness showed up when the ball was in the air, winning nearly half of the 50-50 balls above waist level in the first half.

Yet with the Colonials’ combination of pressure and precision, they often penetrated the Warrior midfield and challenged Wayland’s three-player defensive back line. Senior captain and back Nehda Kandjenouri and senior backs Kara Whitesell and Megan Vocatura put up stiff resistance to A-B’s strikers in many one-on-one situations.

Wayland often kicked the ball over either the side or end line deep in their defensive third. This allowed the team to regroup but also resulted in 14 Colonial corner kicks in the first half alone. While a risky approach, it largely worked as the Warriors prevented any goals directly from those corners.

Wayland was charged with hand-ball fouls inside the 18-yard box on two corners in the last three minutes of the half. A-B scored on both penalty kicks.

Warrior sophomore keeper Sophia Goldstein was kept busy throughout and took an unusually high 13 goal kicks after Colonial passes or missed shot attempts crossed the Wayland end line in the first half alone. She also made five aves in the half.

Wayland regrouped at halftime and its play improved in the second 40-minute half. While A-B still controlled the ball much of the time, the Warriors time of possession (40 percent) and average pass string length (nearly 4) were both up over their first-half performance.

“We’ve been working on our passing game and need to apply more it in games” said Enoch. “Quick passing and moving, moving and quick passing to feet instead of kicking in the direction of people is critical.”

The Warrior offense also came alive in the second half. Senior captain and midfielder Kayla Mabe put on an excellent display of speed and ball handling at one point as she took the ball past three Colonials while crossing from the defensive third over the mid-field line and into the offensive third before passing the ball off.

Midfielder Poulsen and senior striker Lindsey Barnard combined on Wayland’s best scoring chance of the afternoon. Poulsen deftly dribbled deep into the A-B end where she passed to a streaking Barnard whose strong kick went just left of the post.

Wayland put a total of four shots on frame in the second half but couldn’t score.

The Warrior defense limited A-B to only four corners in the second half and cut their pass strings average down to 4 1/2. The Colonials continued to press on offense putting 10 shots on goal. Goldstein saved eight of those but one sneaked just under the cross bar at 42 minutes and another crossed the goal line at 53.